1. Field of the Invention
The invention is a new and distinct cultivar known by the varietal name ‘Tully Champion’ resulting from the novel hybridization of Salix viminalis with Salix miyabeana. The new variety was produced through controlled willow breeding conducted by the inventors in Syracuse, N.Y. The objective of the breeding program is to produce new willow cultivars that generate high biomass yields on a variety of sites, are resistant to diseases and pests, and possess agronomic traits suitable for mechanical planting, harvesting, and post-harvest processing. Shrub willow is being developed as an agricultural crop plant that will be grown and harvested as a sustainable, renewable source of energy. Once a field planting of shrub willows is established, the woody stems can be harvested every three years, and new shoots will re-sprout the following season. Repeated harvesting every two to four years can be sustained for at least 15 years.
2. Description of Relevant Prior Art Including Information Disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97-1.99
This new variety of Salix viminalis×Salix miyabeana was the seedling progeny of the controlled pollination of the female clone Salix viminalis ‘SV2’ by the male clone Salix miyabeana ‘SX67’ performed in February 1999 in Syracuse, N.Y. The female parent (Salix viminalis ‘SV2’) has leaves that are narrowly lanceolate and with acute apex. They are pubescent underneath with raised veins. Margins are entire and leaves average 8.0-12.0 cm in length and 1.0-1.5 cm in width. Variety ‘Tully Champion’ leaves are more oblong to oblong-lanceolate, apex acuminate, margins irregularly glandular-serrulate or subentire, averaging 15.2-21.5 cm in length and 2.2-3.0 cm in width. The leaves are glabrous underneath. The plant has been propagated repeatedly by stem cuttings and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations and field trials. More specifically, the plant has been asexually reproduced by collecting dormant stems during the winter months, cutting them into either 5 inch or 10 inch pieces (cuttings), then planting those cuttings in the field in the spring or in potting mix in the greenhouse, then transplanting the rooted cuttings to the field.
Both parents were originally transferred from the Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Syracuse, N.Y., were vegetatively propagated from stem cuttings. The female parent (S. viminalis ‘SV2’) was transferred in 1990, while the male parent (Salix miyabeana ‘SX67’) was transferred in 1994. The growth of the parent plants was characterized in nursery plantings. The male clone Salix miyabeana ‘SX67’ displayed rapid stem growth and low incidence of rust disease, so was chosen to serve as a parent in a cross with S. viminalis ‘SV2’, which suffered from susceptibility to the potato leafhopper (Empoasca fabae). The seedlings produced by this cross (identification #99202) were first established in a greenhouse, and then were transplanted to a field in Syracuse, N.Y. This particular individual (identification #99202-011) was selected from the family due to its exceptional stem height growth.
The new cultivar has been grown in Syracuse, N.Y. and Tully, N.Y., which have a normal yearly average daily temperature of 47° F., normal daily maximum temperature in July of 82° F., normal daily minimum temperature in January of 14° F., and average precipitation of 40 inches. The new cultivar grows from a rooted cutting to a fully mature plant ready for harvest in approximately three years.